Once Upon Forever
by LiveLaughGlee
Summary: "I love you... forever." They had vowed, never thinking of the possibility that something irrevocable would stand in their way. After all, they had said forever. xONESHOTx


"Ryder, are you- are you sure?" She questioned, reaching down to run her fingers through his hair. He winced a little before nodding his head. His determination would have otherwise inspired her had it not been for the dangerous situation he was putting himself into. Biting her lip, she stood back as he stood up. "I don't think…"

"Good." He mumbled with a tiny smirk on his face. She marveled at how easily it had been for him to regain his composure and the screams of the fans became excited again. "Thinking isn't a good idea right now."

"But Ry, you just-." She would have continued but the screams were only growing louder and she could barely hear herself think. This is the exact reason she stayed away from these sorts of events.

He smiled and kissed her before turning towards his teammates with a confident smile. "I'm fine, Marley. Really, I am."

She turned to look behind him only to see the hopeful smiles of his teammates standing behind him. The ones who weren't currently distracted by the game in front of them, were paying close attention to the conversation going on between the school's 'it' couple. She didn't allow herself to dwell on their feelings for too long. They were the benchwarmers and should be thankful that she was giving them a chance to play. But as she turned towards her boyfriend, her armor fell and she allowed herself to be defeated once again, like she always was.

"Knock 'em dead." She managed to say before he smiled and picked her up to swing her around. "And make sure you kick that guy's ass." She muttered distastefully, turning to give the guy who had hurt her boyfriend a glare. He wasn't paying attention to her though, which is partially why she had the confidence to do it in the first place.

Ryder chuckled and set her down before kissing her briefly. "I love you, Marls. Forever."

"Forever." She confirmed, nodding her head as she watched him throw his helmet back over his head. He ran onto the field and evidently the crowd found that to be thrilling. Unable to tear her eyes away from him, she backed up until she was sitting comfortably on the team's bench.

He won the game that night.

**X X X **

"Babe, you look absolutely stunning." He assured her and she bit her lip to keep herself from rolling her eyes. "Trust me."

"You're not even here." She answered as her eyes scanned her dorm room. It had been decorated much like her room back at her house had been decorated. Her blanket was purple and her rug matched it perfectly. More importantly, the wall was covered with pictures of her and Ryder, ones that were too important to leave at home. "You have no idea what I look like right now."

"You look beautiful, Marls." He continued, seemingly unfazed by her blunt protest. It was something he always did: argued with her over stupid things. If she said it was too rainy outside to go out, he proposed they play a game of tag in the pouring rain. If she insisted she was too sick to hang out, he showed up at her house with a box of tissues and a handful of corny movies. Arguing was his specialty. "Always have, always will."

"I haven't slept in days, Ry." She spit out despite the redness of her cheeks. In a couple of minutes her roommate would return from classes and propose they go to Starbucks and hang out. Marley would refuse the offer but Ryder would insist that she should go anyway and thus their conversation would end. Quite frankly, she didn't want to hang up with him, but if she had her way, he'd be going to Stanford as well.

"And your grades are going to prove that." He mumbled and she could almost see the smile on his face. "You're going to do awesome on your finals."

She sucked in a breath before ruffling her hand through her hair. "I don't think so, Ry. Not this time."

"Don't say that." He soothed softly. She shut her eyes and pictured that he was here right now. Even if he was, they'd be having the same exact conversation, she knew that. But given the fact that she hadn't seen him in two months, she wanted nothing more than to be able to look into his eyes at the moment. "You're going to do great, Marley. And then when you're finished, you're going to come Alabama and watch me play a game."

She turned towards her plane ticket that was sitting on her dresser. Using the money she had made working at the café, she had purchased a roundtrip ticket weeks ago and was counting down the days until she was able to use it. Ryder had insisted to help pay for it with the money he was saving with his scholarship, but she refused, insisting that he use his money to pay for something he wanted. Of course, he had just argued that he wanted her to come down, but she denied his pleas.

"Only five more days." She said as she allowed herself to smile for the first time since the conversation had begun.

"I can't wait." He replied cooly and almost as if on cue, the door opened and her roommate handed her a cup of coffee.

"Are you almost done?" The girl asked expectantly and it took all of Marley's energy to keep herself from frowning. She loved her roommate but she loved Ryder a hell of a lot more. "We were going to go hang out at the Quad. You in?"

Marley bit her lip and was seconds away from shaking her head when Ryder started talking again. "Have fun at the Quad." He teased lightly and she narrowed her eyes. "I'll call you tomorrow, alright?"

She put her hand over the receiver and turned towards her roommate. "Yeah, sure. Just give me five minutes." Watching as her roommate left the room to freshen up a bit she removed her hand and sighed. "I don't want to go…"

"Sure you do, Marls." He replied with a smile hidden in his words. The way he always smiled had once seemed delightful, attractive if you will, but now she just wanted him to be serious and to talk to her until it was too early in the morning to continue. "Go play some Frisbee."

"I hate Frisbee." She muttered distastefully, listening as he chuckled.

He sighed and she could hear him continue to chuckle. "I love you, Marls." He continued in a teasing manner. "Forever."

"I love you too." She allowed herself to say, regardless of the feeling of hatred she felt as she realized she had lost again.

"Just for now?" He teased.

"No." She replied, faking a smile as her roommate reentered the room. "Forever."

"That's what I thought." He chuckled before pressing the red button on his phone. She sighed as she tucked her phone into her back pocket and allowed her roommate to drag her to a group of other people that she sometimes hung out with.

**X X X **

Confetti fell to the floor as she ran onto the field and grabbed onto him. He was sweating and no doubt smelled pretty bad but she didn't care. He had just won the championship game and deserved every ounce of love she could offer him in this moment. Smiling, he kissed her and spun her around as she giggled.

"Congratulations man." Random people came up and congratulated him, making him smile each time. Regardless of the fact that he was clearly amazing, he often shrugged off their compliments and told Marley all about how they, as individuals, were vital to their team's victory. Marley smiled each time and allowed herself to fall more and more in love with him with each word he said. His humility had always attracted her to him.

"You were amazing." She breathed out, leaning forward to kiss him once more. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders, much like she was expecting him too. "I'm so happy for you."

They were pulled apart seconds later by his coach and a reporter who was holding a microphone with the logo 'ESPN' on it. He smiled politely and ruffled his hair as his coach patted him on the back. The reporter turned towards the camera and announced that she was talking to Ryder Lynn, 'number one pick'. "Do you have any idea how many teams want you to play for them next year in the NFL?"

Ryder chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "It's easy to look good when he's your coach." He mumbled modestly, turning to point at the man who had taught him so well over the past three years. "I'm just really blessed."

"What are you going to do now that you've just won your third National Championship Game and you're no doubt about to receive your second Heisman Trophy?" The reporter asked with a giant smile on her face.

Ryder matched her smile and licked his lips as he thought about the endless possibilities. Marley watched, adoring his every action. He smirked into the camera mischievously, before his eyes flashed over in her direction. Shaking her head out of habit, she opened her eyes wide as he pulled her into view. "I'm going to take my girlfriend out for dinner."

She licked her lips and smiled awkwardly before he turned her around so they were facing. The camera had shifted and was now panning the area, so he bent down and kissed her passionately. Having no idea how he was able to swoon every time he touched her, she smiled and hid her face in his chest. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" He asked innocently, savoring the smell of her hair. He missed it so much.

"Embarrass me by pulling me into _your _interview." She stated, pulling away and staring at him. "I look like I just woke up."

"Because I love you." He said with a giant smile on his face as if it was the simplest, most obvious answer he could've given. "Forever." After thinking it over for a couple of seconds, he licked his lips and added, "And you don't look like crap. You look absolutely breathtaking."

She rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. "I'm so proud of you and I love you too."

"Forever?" He asked like a child would.

"Forever."

**X X X**

Marley breathed deeply, her hands shaking from the heartbreak she had been feeling. It had been three weeks since he had even attempted to contact her. She wiped her eyes as she slid down the bathroom wall in her new apartment at Stanford. Three entire weeks had passed without word of anything and now she was learning of his success through the news? The news?!

Had it not been only three months ago that he had showed her off to the world by pulling her into the camera's views? Had it not been only three months ago that he told her he'd love her forever?

There was a knock on the door and it was no doubt Kitty, who had decided to visit her for the week. Marley refused to answer and instead continued crying next to the toilet, ignoring the smell it seemed to always produce.

"Marley, open the door." Kitty urged, wiggling the door knob obnoxiously. Marley frowned and continued to ignore her friend before her phone vibrated. As she unlocked the screen, she saw a text message from Ryder. Without further thought, she threw her phone and watched as it shattered against the tile wall. "What in the hell was that?"

"I _hate_ him." Marley growled, standing up and grabbing a pair of scissors. Looking in the mirror, all she could see was herself with him. That needed to change and in a moment of pure anxiety, she squeezed the scissors shut and watched as her hair fell into the sink below.

Kitty managed to get the door open with one of her bobby pins and stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Marley's new look. "Holy _shit." _

Marley sobbed, clutching the scissors again and watching more hair fall towards the floor. She'd have kept going had it not been for Kitty yanking the scissors out of her hands. "Give them- to-o me."

"What are you _doing?" _Kitty demanded looking at the brunette's fallen hair. Marley fell to the floor as her sobs overtook her being. "Oh, Marley…"

"He… he doesn't love me any-anymore."

"You don't know that." Kitty soothed, rubbing the girl's back. "That boy has always been an idiot."

"N-no he hasn't." Marley yelled, sniffling as she wiped her eyes.

"Oh _please." _Kitty continued, rolling her eyes as her friend continued to argue with her. It seemed to be common sense that the boy was one of the dullest tools around. "My dog can read better than he can."

"That doesn't make him stupid." Marley defended, sniffling one last time before standing up. "What makes him stupid is that he spent the last five years loving me when he could have been with anyone."

As Marley turned to walk away, she gasped when she saw him standing in the doorway looking extremely confused. Narrowing her eyes once she regained her composure, she pushed past him and walked into the living room.

"What do you want Ryder?" She muttered sternly, narrowing her eyes in his direction. For the first time, he seemed at a loss for words, nervous beyond belief. "And how did you even get in here?"

"I uh… I'm so sorry, Marley." He whispered, looking her up and down sadly. She had always thought that this is the way he should be looking at her, like she wasn't enough for him, but now that he was she regretted it. Nothing would please her more than if he would just shut his eyes and leave. "I um… I like your hair."

"Don't."

He sighed and licked his lips. "Look, Marley, I'm really, really sorry and you know that. I have _never_ done anything like this before and I just… I don't know what happened."

"You got bored of me." She offered, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly even though the thought was killing her inside. "So you just ignored me without even giving me any sort of explanation."

His heart broke as she started to cry, but he kept his composure and shook his head. "It's not like that..." He started as he felt his own eyes start to cloud over. "You have to believe me, Marls."

"You didn't return my calls!" She screamed, desperately trying to make this conversation end so she could crawl up into her bed and cry herself to sleep. "Why? Why not?!"

"I couldn't!" He urged, shaking his head furiously as he began ruffling through his hair. It marveled her that she was still so insanely attracted to him in spite of the fact that he had just broken her heart. "I-I didn't know how to tell you…"

"Tell me what?" She sniffled, suddenly intrigued with the direction of the conversation. "That you were drafted to the Patriots? Because you sure knew how to tell ESPN that."

"No, I uh…" He started before he was, again, at a loss for words. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with himself for allowing this to become what it had become. "I um… Marley, I have cancer."

Marley's world started to spin and she had to blink a few times to steady herself and keep herself from falling over. His words felt like a train had just run her over, leaving her paralyzed as some dogs began to rip her to shreds. It appeared that even though she had been attending Stanford, one of the best universities in the country, she couldn't comprehend his simple fact.

"I… I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how." He whispered, looking down at his shoes. "I found out last week and I didn't… I didn't want to just throw it at you but I knew that if I called you, I'd end up telling you."

"But… but how?" She whispered, blinking a few more times to get rid of the tears that had been accumulating in her eyes. It surprised her how calm her words seemed to be even though she felt like she was on a boat in the middle of a deadly hurricane. "You were just so… so healthy."

He sighed and licked his lips before walking over to her couch and sitting down. "I don't know." He shrugged, motioning for her to sit next to him. "My doctor just said that-that I have it and I've been trying to deal with it for the past couple weeks."

"You should've called me." She mumbled as she sat down in the spot next to him. "I could've helped. I would've gone with you."

He nodded and looked over at her tiredly. "I know, I was just stupid."

"How bad is it?" She asked, deciding it'd be better to get that information now than later. She didn't want him to be incredibly happy when she asked the question, making him upset again.

"They're putting me through chemo." He murmured softly, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "Your hair really does look nice."

"No it doesn't." She rolled her eyes, instantly regretting the moments she had spent cutting her hair off in the bathroom. "It's probably not even"

"It looks perfect." He replied, running his hands through it. "You always look perfect. You really thought I just got tired of you?" He asked, her words finally being processed. It was crazy to her that he had stayed with her this long and it was easy to imagine him growing bored of her.

"I'm nothing special."

He scoffed and shook his head. "Marley, you're incredible." He sniffled while nodding his head to confirm his own thoughts. "And you're crazy not to see that."

"I think you're just crazy to love me." She replied, forcing herself to offer him a small smile.

He smirked and nodded his head. "Forever."

**X X X**

"You're going to cut into him?" Marley asked, three years later, her voice confrontational. He had been responding well to the chemo and the thought that they were so persistent to fix it by using a knife instead was crazy to her. She couldn't understand what had happened between now and yesterday. "No."

"Marley, just hear them out." Ryder soothed, taking a hold of his wife's hand. His teammates were outside in the waiting room and he was thinking about just requesting that she update them so she wouldn't be forced to deal with the situation. He had played about 3 months for the Patriots before he had to stop because it was too much for him with the chemo. They had saved his spot for his return though, in hopes that he would beat the cancer. In his time off, he married Marley and had travelled to Bermuda to celebrate their honeymoon. Now, two full years after their wedding day, he was sitting in a hospital bed after he had complained about chest pains.

"I'm sorry but if you're responding to the chemo then I'm not going to allow their greedy hands to-."

"Babe," He interrupted making her roll her eyes. "it's their job to propose new courses of action."

The doctor nodded his head at Ryder before continuing to speak, his words like venom in Marley's ears. "The cancer is spreading slowly. It'll take the chemo months to do what we could do in hours if we could just cut it out."

Ryder licked his lips and nodded his head. "Alright, let's do it."

"Ryder!" Marley argued turning to shake her head in his direction. "You don't know anything about the procedure!"

"Marley," He started in a teasing manner, though his point was serious. "if you don't try new plays in football, the other team is always going to beat you."

"This isn't football, Ry." She murmured, bending over to kiss his forehead. "You can't fake it out with trick plays."

"Please," Ryder scoffed sarcastically, smiling slightly. "I can beat cancer's ask just like I beat the Eagles in my last game." Marley rolled her eyes as Ryder turned towards the doctor. "We'll do it."

"I'll schedule the ER for Saturday." The doctor mumbled before explaining the different things Ryder would have to do in the days before the procedure.

"I love you." Ryder murmured sweetly as he stared up at her. Marley frowned but allowed him to continue the way he always did. "Forever."

**X X X **

"And if you see a bright light, I want you to run away from it and come back to me." Marley whimpered as she held onto his hand. Currently, the surgeons were rolling his gurney towards the ER and they were getting closer and closer to where Marley wasn't allowed to go.

Ryder chuckled and licked his lips. "Babe, don't worry. I'm going to come back to you."

He hand never been one to break his promises, so she smiled and nodded her head finding comfort in his words. "Even if there's a bright light?"

"Even if there's a bright light." He assured, as the surgeon stopped rolling the gurney. He knew what that meant. Marley couldn't come and farther. "And I love you."

"Yeah, yeah." Marley mumbled sarcastically. "Forever. You sound like a broken record."

He chuckled and nodded his head. "I was wondering when you were going to say that." He smiled and looked in front of him at the double doors. "I do though. Forever."

"I love you too." She whispered, watching as the surgeon started wheeling the love of her life away. "Forever!" She called off after him, blinking back a few tears as he disappeared behind the doors.

**X X X**

Marley sat in her seat, staring blankly ahead of her. It was a beautiful day but it felt nothing like it should have felt. She should have been running around the back yard, jumping on the trampoline he insisted on buying, but instead she was sitting dressed in an all-black dress fighting back tears as several of his friends spoke on his behalf.

"Hey Marls." A boy she hadn't seen since high school greeted. It was strange to her, seeing him here after all these years at the funeral of the guy who had stolen Marley away. "How've you been?"

She huffed, slightly annoyed with his stupid question. "What do you think?"

Jake nodded his head before staring in front of them at the coffin. Despite their falling out in high school, Jake was proud of everything his former best friend managed to accomplish. He realized now that Ryder was the guy he wished he could have been but never had the strength to become.

"He loved you, you know." Jake whispered, before patting her back and standing up.

He couldn't hear her but as he walked away, Marley nodded her head and whispered, "Forever."

That simple word had seemed more to be a way to suck up to her even after he had already won her heart, but it meant the world to her now and she wished she could hear him say it once again. Sighing, she ran a tired hand through her hair and stood up. Walking to the back of the church so she could leave, she turned once more towards his coffin.

"I love you too, Ry." She whispered, feeling her eyes tear up once more. "Forever."

**I started this story with the full intent of making it through a story without killing anyone off, but it seemed only fitting to have him die in surgery and I'm sorry for that. Haha. It appears that in these kinds of stories, I always kill off Ryder. I don't know why that always happens. Well, regardless, I thought of this while on Tumblr so I spent the last hour or two writing it. **

**Please review and I'm so sorry it's so long. I try to break stories up when they get this long but I don't really trust myself to update. It appears I'm really bad at that. Thanks for putting up with me. And don't forget to review! Please. **

**Sorry for any typos!**


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